November 11th in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning
The afternoon is difficult for all involved. You are sore from hauling buckets of water and tired from moving rubble to ensure the safety of the survivors. The worst part of the day, however, comes after the immediate threat is past. When the fire is out, the shock wears off of the survivors and they begin to realize what has happened. Their spouses and children are dead from steel and flames and many of their homes are destroyed. You realize now what little these peasants have.
After asking around, you discover that the lord of the manor, a Sir Rawley, is one of the bodies. Lady Rawley is unceasing in supporting her people. She moves from family to family, calling everyone by name. She has her men bring food to the hungry and gives honest condolences for the lost. Families that have lost their homes are moved into what's left of the hay shed. The Lady is swift in her decisions and businesslike in her actions but there is kindness too.
The burial is quick and without much ceremony. The friar says a blessing and the bodies are put in a mass grave. The Lord Rawley is laid to rest apart from the peasants, in a small family sepulcher on the hill behind the manor.
When pressed about what the bandits took, the Lady will again defer, this time with a chill in her voice that warns you away.
Asking some of her workmen brings suspicious glances and whispers of "I hear it's a cursed artifact of her grand-daddy's" and "it's the Lord Rawley's treasure that he stole from the pagans during his adventuring days" or "nothing but some old love letters."
It is late in the evening when you finally bed down for the night and you all sleep soundly.
The next morning, you are awoken before dawn by workmen already clearing rubble and hauling in what straw is left for re-thatching those roofs that were saved. The whole lot of you are sore and tired and cold.
Rising early, Dolgi examines the tracks once again, memorizing the little cuts and bends of each shoe, seeing how much each horse carried and it's stride. Realizing that everyone loses a hair here and there, Dolgi spends a lot of time where several horses appeared to have stood while carrying riders.
ReplyDelete"One of these tracks might belong to the horse who carries the redhead. I need to ask Thorvald if she's heavy or small. There appear to be tracks of a horse carrying light..." Dolgi muses to himself.
The tracks leave the manor in 4 directions and there are 2-5 riders in each group.
ReplyDelete((Sam, just wondering does one set look like it heads off west? My assumption is yes, which means that is the two who crossed our trail back toward the road. We know they are heading southish now.))
DeleteDolgi returns to the fire, chewing on his lip as he mulls over what the tracks tell him. He nods to Rayna as he reaches for a piece of bacon. He grabs his mug and looks at Rayna with a tilt of his head, inquiring if he can have some tea. As Rayna agrees, Dolgi fills his mug and takes a swallow, after blowing to cool it a bit. As he smacks his lips, he winks at Rayna and says, "Lass, you make a good cup of tea!"
He then bellows out, "Okay all you sleepy heads! Get up so we can go find the Bandit Queen and bring her to justice!"
Rayna stretches and yawns and crawls slowly out of her bedroll. Stirring the fire and adding some bits of wood she puts some water on to heat and then prepares her spells for the day. As she gathers her gear and saddles the mule she watches Dolgi work out the trail, hoping he doesn't wander too far from the safety of the party. Adding some dried herbs to the hot water for tea she digs out a slab of bacon, cuts a few strips and throws them in a skillet. "Maybe the smell of frying bacon will wake up these sleepy heads," she tells herself as she spears a crisp strip with her knife and pours a mug of tea. She wants to get away from the smell of smoke and death that hovers over the village and on the trail of the bandits.
ReplyDeleteShade awakens from his perch atop the wagon and manages to steal some of Dolgi's bacon and enjoys a cup of tea, trying to wash away his hangover and do away with the memories of death and destruction that bring back such horrible memories. Reciting the words of power in his head he gathers his rage to focus the task. Taking forth his satchel and what little coin he has, he gives half out in copper pieces to the widows and children, as he can.
ReplyDeleteJoining the assembled party around the fire Vailian listens to Dolgi's tracking ideas as they formulate a plan of action. Vailian suggests that they ask the lady if Alis, Hamish and Rethas can stay with the wagon so they can travel faster in pursuit with speed and stealth. Vailian would ride Darkness leaving the wagon.
The people thank you profusely for your generosity and ask your name. (Do you want to go by Shade or something else in the folk songs?)
DeleteDraymun nods his agreement to Shade's suggestion and addresses the party.
Delete"He makes a good point. The wagon will only slow us down at this point, and I feel leaving it and protection here would not only speed us along, but leave these people-" he motions toward the busy workers behind, "-with some reassurance in the form of extra guardians while we hunt Minx."
Shade replies that he is but the son of a thatcher, and nothing more.
DeleteA couple of them look sideways at their roofs and then cheer "to Thatcherson! The dark one with a light heart!"
DeleteDolgi mentions to the rest of the group that it might be best to backtrack and follow the signs of the horses they passed on their way to the manor. At least they know where those tracks are, 1/2 mile from the manor, might save some time.
ReplyDeleteDumping the bacon grease on the fire, Rayna scrubs the skillet out with some sand and ties it on her saddle. She does like her crispy bacon in the morning. She pours the rest of the tea into her mug, throws out the grounds and ties that to the saddle as well and mounts the mule.
ReplyDeleteShade asks the group if there are any objections to him unhitching Darkness and leaving the wagon and its defenders to shore up the small community. (Assuming there are no dissenters...)
ReplyDeleteShade saddles up Darkness and places his Quarterstaff in a loop attached to the stirrups, ensuring it is nearby if he needs it. Shouldering his pack he mounts the large quadruped and turns it back towards the group.
"Lead on, my friend," Rayna smiles at Dolgi, "we'll hold back so as not to blur the tracks of the bandits.
ReplyDeleteThorvald rides up to the others on his mount and nods his approval at the discussed plan, but he says nothing, bottling all the hatred he had for Mynx so that it could be unleashed upon her when Thorvald finally caught up with her again.
ReplyDeleteMounting his mule, Dolgi glances at the rest of the party. Seeing they are ready he heads back to the area where they first spotted the tracks of the fleeing horses. As he arrives at the area, he asks the group to give him a little bit of room, no more than 20 feet or so, just to make sure they don't trample the tracks before he has a chance to pick up the trail.
ReplyDelete